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March 18, 1954 COPY NO. 1’: ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION EVACUATION OF NATIVES - OPERATION CASTLE Note by the Secre_t.ar~ The Division of Military Application attached letter from the Commander, JTF-7, of the Commlasion, Special Projects 13 handle this went as, ......
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JOINT TASK FORCE SEVEN San Francisco, Calif. Brigadier General Kenneth E. Fields Director, Division of Mllltary Appllcatlon .= U.S. Atomic Energy Commission i Dear General Fields: On the morning of 5 Karch I visited Kwajalein to confer with Admiral Clarke on the problems connected with caring for the evacuated natives. $!hilethere I interviewed some of the natives, Znd talked with the r.edlcal officers and vsrlous ot>.z?s The attached memorand~ report of this visit IS forwarded for your Information.
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JOINT TASK FORCE SEVEN OFFICE OF THE COMMANDER MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD: 1. Arrived Kwajalein 1000 hours and had an Immediate coriference with the following:L:.......—.... Rear Admiral Clarke, CO, Naval Station Kwajalein Brig. General Estea, Commander, Task Group 7-4 t Members Of Admiral Clarketg staff Local Representatlves of Trust Terrltorles 2. ?ne following was determined: a. The weather station tietachmentat Rongerlk was evacusted by ?BM on 2 March. b, The DDE PHILLIPS entered the lagoon at Rongelap at dzyllght, 3 l:arch, anchored near the village and evacuated at that “ ?lace. The lozding, of course, was easy compa~ed with that at ‘;tlrlkwhich took place on the lee side of the atoll over the z.~~f c. The DDE RENSHAW evacuated the natives at Ut.irikat daylight, 4 Kzrch. The DDE was unzble to enter the lagoon. Landing parties went ashore by motor w’naleboat and rzft and wzm met by Trust Territory Representatives and Inter?ret,erswho had arr:ved by seaplane from Kwajaleln. All natlvea on Utlrlk were promptly evacuzted to the destroyer where all but the old and feeble ~ere given a bath. The children were scrubbed down first “ and thereafter the gro~:npeople entered the showers. The chllci~en rice and Ice cream and ate heartily. They xere returned directly to Xwajalein xhere they xere examined by medical people and quartered temporarily in a vacant barracks, They are to be noved to a native village where they wI1l be quartered In tents furnished by JTF SEVEN. NO EiCbe8B was observed, nor was any expected, due to the co~paratlvely low radiological exposure of this group, ‘ Hoxever, it wzs reported that some small children, after arrival at Kwajaleln, showed a loss of appetite. This Is attributed by
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the medical offlcera to the change of diet and native food 18 being obtained from the nearby native settlement on the Island next to KwaJaleln Island, 3. On this trip to Kwajaleln I-t_ookwith me Dr. White of “ LASL and Major Crea from my staff who were to perform a water -and BOI1 sampllng mission at a number of atolls, all of which had Shoh’nvery low or no contamination on aerial survey. It was Cetermlned that certain atolls were extremely hazardous for seaplane landings, Since no material fallout had been Indicated on any Of the atolla and tfme was not a factor, the following z.rrangements were jrzdewhile at Kwajaleln with Admiral Clarke. The RENSHAW, then at Kwajaleln, was ordered by CJTF SEVEN to depzrt at noon with ]fiajorCrea from JTF SEVEN staff to visit Ylklep, Jamo, Alluk and Mejit to obtain samples. Major Crea was ordered also to check a Trust Territory ship (AKL) with approxlma$sly 50 persons aboard which arrived Utirik 1000 M, Tuesday, and departed 0700 M, Wednesday, and is now probably at Ailuk. This ship proceeded to Utlrik direct from Kwajalein and most probably ~-—. received no significant fallout. Dr. White was ordezsd to dep~?% at noon on 5 lfarch (M) by seaplane and perform similar Sampllng at Wotje, Erlkub and Maloelap. It Is expected that previous surveys by airplane of insignificant fallout on these atolls wl~l 4. It was determined that Admiral Clarke at Kwajaleln has tsken every ceasure possible to cooperate. He has accomplished a. The previous nfght he and his staff warned all personnel at the movies and clubs th,atno news Is to be allowed to leak out In regzrd to the fact that natives have been brought to Kwa,jalelnfrom outlying atol16. It Is certain that everyone on KwaJalein knows why these natives were brought In. All persons - cm Kwajaleln saw the light In the sky and heard the explosion o? the cievlce. Soon sfterwzrd two destroyers arrived v~th the na?lvcs. >ne cznnot hide two tiestroyersand some 250 natives at a place b. D_@garees and other clothing were easily supplied to the male natives to replace clothtng that had to be decontzmi>?te~. The matter of supplying clothing for the women and chllch’enwas more alfflcult but the families St Kwajaleln, when called upon, supplled more than was needed. a. h%en they can get back to their home islsn~s. They have been told that it would be In approxlmtely two to four h’eeks~ A final answer cannot be given until Rongelap and Utlrik have been BurVeyed periodically over a period of the and It has been determined whether It Is essential to keep them evac~zted until the close of the operation. b, The natlvetiare concerned about their anlcals left behind. These consist of chickens and plga. These anirals are fed almost entirely copra (dried coconut meat). The main problem
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f9 viaterbecause water 16 extremely scarce and kept under careful guard and none was left where it would be accessible to the . anfmalS. The cost of trying to supply food, but more especially water, by ship, seaplane or airdrop for these animals would be many times more expensive than the cost of replacement at a later date, CJTF SEVEN does not anticipate taking action to czre for The Interpreter stated that some of the heai5s of families ;;d left money underneath their huts. This Is their only possesalon of any consequence. Care will be taken to Insure that any re-entry parties do not disturb the natlveel belongings. 6, I interviewed the magistrate from Utirik, a nat.lve. “?esaid that early In the morning on the .Clrstof March, local ;fme, he saw a very bright light In the sky and heard a bang followed by a rumble somewhat similar to thun~zr but sl?~sethere -. were no storm clouds In the area he figured It was an explosion. Re was on Jaluit during the war which was extensively bombed zxd he knows what an explosion 1s. He saw nothing ccme down from ->——.-- the sky llke dust or debris. He said that he had nev~r seen or ‘ tieardin previous yeara anythfng like he had seen an~ heard on :hls occasion. . He seemed In good spirits and with g?eat dellght discussed his reactfons to the light and bang. 7. I Interviewed the top native from Rongelap through an Interpreter. His experience was similar except he obviously saw .2ndheard more than was the case at Utlrlk. When I asked him If he felt znything, he reached out and gave me a pxsh. He ob8, I Interviewed Warrant Officer J. A. Katrol who is in charge of the weather station at Rofigerlk. He said that he was just washing up when the flash occurred. He came out with a towel znd the light was so bright that he held the tcrweljust to the “hottonedge of his eyes, He did not have to caver his eyes but wzs on the verge of doing so because of the exceptloaally brig>.t ‘.ightIn the sky. He said that about 15 minutes a~ker the flezb,, end rattlecithe buildlngs. He beczriievery frightened later when he sax the high reading on his tnstrunents. Katrol reported thzt he did n“ot see particles fall:ng as had kzen reported but a haze closed In like a cloud and a dust was deposited on bullda. ‘(:hen asked for an explznatlon as to why the film badges prevlsusly reported to have keen In the Icebox hzd such a high resdlng on them, he explzlned that the r.zn who took them out of the icebox c~rrled them In his pocket for a period of ttr,e. 9. Capt21n Halght of the Division of Nllltary Appllcatlon, AEC, who was sent by me to KxaJaleln, repcrted In effect as follows. Health sltuatlon of the natives Is satisfactory and phplcal examtnatlons are within normal expected v~rlatlona. There were no symptoms of radlatlon sickmess as Of 5 March. Some infants seemed to be difficult to feed but this Is thought to be due to present variations from their u9ual diet. Procurement of their USUE1 diet Is being accomplished from natives who live on
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to Kwajalein Island, Present pro~noslaisan ieland ad~acent favorable and morale seems to be very good. - - 10. I discussed the problem with the senior naval medical officer at Kwajalein Naval Station who reported he had found no . Illness that could be attributed to radiation, although he Is no expert In this field. tive and member? of Admiral Clarkers staff feel that it IS out of the question to keep news of thte event from leaking Out. There are 6ome 200 families at Kwajalein. There is no mall re~- sorship. There is constant traffic on MATS through Kwajalein of translentipersonnel, I saw some 20 or more persons, mostly ?ailors, boardlag a MATS aircraft bound f9r Hawall. It is lnInvolved in evacuating and caring for these n~tlves.. sentatlve that.the Joint Task Force would stand any expense frcy Task Force funds Over and above normal Naval or Trusi Territory expenses. This would Include ratlona, pay of Interpreters, a~.d ‘;nelike. The Joint Task Force has already 6hlpped 35 squad tents from JTF stocks to house the natives. I have had In mind that any natives who were stricken with radiation sickness should be alr evacuated to Tripler Hospital. When questioned on th18 subject, the medical people anticipated there probably would be none with the one slight possibility of some of the young children having to be zlr evacuated to Tripler. Major General, USA ‘